


Projection

by Kispexi2



Category: Saiyuki
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-03-18
Updated: 2009-03-18
Packaged: 2017-10-08 03:16:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/72119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kispexi2/pseuds/Kispexi2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><span class="small">"Told you he was mine."</span></p><p>"The fuck he is. He's coming home with me, bitch."</p><p>"He's staying here with me, jerk."</p><p>Goku growls and jumps between them. "Hey! Tha's enough! I'm not a <i>thing</i> you get to fight over. I'm <i>me</i>. I decide where I go an' who I stay with – got it?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Projection

**Author's Note:**

> Beta thanks to Moshesque

Sanzo is unbearably hot, sweating to such a ridiculous degree that the hair at the nape of his neck is sticking to his skin, making him hotter still. He's thirsty too, desperate for a drink.

What the hell happened and - more to the point - where the hell is he?

Shielding his eyes against the vicious light bouncing off every surface, he scans his surroundings. There are buildings on either side of him, white-washed and squat, stretching out in two slightly straggly lines. They're square and basic, with no hint of ornamentation. The doors and windows are square too, but Sanzo can see curtains, blinds and the odd bamboo screen.

He seems to have stumbled into some kind of settlement.

To his left, two broken walls stand at right angles to each other, all that remain of what once must have been a house - a_ home_. Against the electric brightness of the midday sky, their jagged tops look like aching rows of shattered teeth.

There's been fighting here.

Further along the chalk-white street, the buildings open out around a little square lined with market stalls. They don't seem to be selling much, but there are customers anyway, prodding the goods, turning them over appraisingly in their hands.

Their taloned hands.

As Sanzo struggles to reconcile the fact that everyone here is a youkai with the peculiar normality of the village, a girl with tight pigtails and a glare that could wither vegetation comes stomping up to him and plants both hands on her hips.

"What are _you_ doing here?"

It's a good question; Sanzo's not sure himself. He shouldn't be here. Something's very wrong.

"We don't need any lectures from a _human_ priest," the girl spits, her scowl darkening "Your lot started this war, not us!"

Ah yes, the war. The one about access to water. _Now_ he remembers.

"I'm not here to lecture you." He takes a quick drag on a cigarette he doesn't remember lighting. "I'm here to ..." To what? Talk a townful of enraged youkai out of marching headlong into a battle they can't possibly win? Why should _he_ care about that? He _doesn't_. If they're stupid enough to get themselves killed, he's not going to shed any tears about it. And yet-

"Then why are you here?"

The girl's eyes are the same size and shape as Goku's but have none of their warmth, none of their eager shine.

"Because dying doesn't change anything. There's plenty of water in the oasis. Enough for the human village _and_ yours. There's no need for bloodshed."

The girl laughs in his face. How old is she? Eighteen, nineteen? So young, yet already closed-off and cynical, suspicious of everyone. Then again, some kids have to grow up fast.

"You think they're going to share nicely?" she sneers. "Humans don't know how. _You_ don't."

Sanzo blinks.

"What have _I_ got to do with anything?"

"Goku. You're here because of him. You thought you were going to lose him."

"He was riddled full of holes! He was ..."

Sanzo can't bring himself to say it and, as he hesitates, the girl clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes, dismissing the gory image forming in his mind with a careless wave of her hand.

"Not then - now. You're afraid I'm going to take him from you, that maybe I already have."

Sanzo's mouth goes dry. _Drier_. He tries to swallow but his throat's too tight.

"You know we kissed, right?"

Sanzo tries not to picture it, tries not to see the bitter line of her thin lips pressed against the plump swell of Goku's. Tries not to imagine the monkey liking it and getting hard. For _her._

"He likes me."

"Yeah?" Sanzo snaps. "Well, he-" His certainty crumbles. What has he ever done to deserve the devotion he's about to lay claim to? Nothing. Not a damn thing. Maybe Goku wants more than that.

"He what?" the girl presses, smirking.

"He's mine!" Sanzo declares, finding more certain ground.

"No, he's not! He's mine now! You had your chance!"

Sanzo's pistol is in his hand before he's even thought about drawing it and he cocks the hammer.

"Goku is mine. _Mine_."

Suddenly something blunt and forceful cracks against his ankle, making him hop about in pain.

"What th' heck are ya doin'?"

To Sanzo's astonishment, Goku has appeared from nowhere and his shining, eager eyes are smouldering with anger.

"Whadja think you're doin', pointin' that thing at my friend! Put it away. NOW!"

Sanzo ought to shoot him for that, or whack him with the fan, or yell at him, but he's not sure any of it would do any good.

Pig Tails girl grins.

"Told you he was mine."

"The fuck he is. He's coming home with me, bitch."

"He's staying here with me, jerk."

Goku growls and jumps between them.

"Hey! Tha's enough! I'm not a _thing_ you get to fight over. I'm _me_. I decide where I go an' who I stay with – got it?"

To emphasize the point, he kicks Sanzo's ankle again. Hard. Hard enough to make Sanzo cry out.

"Ow!"

"Waaah! Sanzo! What is it?"

Everything has changed. The heat, the tone of Goku's voice – everything. Sanzo rubs his eyes. He's in bed – the same bed he vividly remembers fucking Goku not so very long ago – under way too many blankets.

_Hn_. All that weirdness was just a dream. Goku is here, beside him, propped up on one elbow and peering down anxiously.

"You okay?"

_I decide where I go an' who I stay with - got it?_

"Fine."

"What are ya smilin' at?"

"You, you idiot." Sanzo hooks a hand around the back of Goku's neck and pulls him down so he can press a quick kiss to those warm, plump lips. Then shoves him roughly away again because Goku's too damn hot to sleep tangled up with. "Stay on your own side, dammit!"

Instantly, Goku wriggles back over, whining "But I like it _here_," as he settles himself firmly in Sanzo's space.

Sanzo turns onto his side, not answering. Because there's no way he's going to admit that he likes it too.


End file.
